Mustard pot and spoon (one of a pair) 1771 - 1772

Curator: What catches my eye right away is how surprisingly delicate it seems. The geometry, the shine...it almost feels like it belongs in a jewelry box rather than on a dining table. Editor: Indeed. We're looking at a silver mustard pot, one of a pair created around 1771-1772. The artisan was Edward Aldridge II, working in the elegant world of 18th-century decorative arts. Curator: Aldridge, huh? I love imagining the hands that shaped this—did he ever dream his tiny creation would end up here, under glass, centuries later? Editor: It speaks to the enduring appeal of such objects. Silver, especially then, was a potent symbol of status and taste, often signaling participation in wider economic and social networks. Something like a mustard pot would have featured prominently in displays of wealth. Curator: Well, it does exude an aura of self-importance, doesn’t it? Like, “Darling, pass the Dijon—but only if you’re worthy!” But it's that lattice-work around the glass liner, it makes me think of honeycombs… which is entirely inappropriate for mustard, I admit! Editor: Not at all. The honeycomb pattern perhaps suggests order, refinement, and a certain understanding of visual codes valued by elites. But these objects can become freighted with other, less obvious associations over time. What begins as purely decorative eventually signifies historical value. Curator: That’s lovely—so a humble pot becomes a time capsule. I'm picturing lavish dinners, powdered wigs...a whole world concentrated in this little, shiny object. It almost feels alive, as if it’s holding its breath, waiting to be used again. Editor: Absolutely, and what's interesting is how a piece like this allows us to engage with that lost world, and question whose stories are preserved and celebrated in our museums. Who had access to objects of this type? Whose labor went into crafting it? These are vital questions we bring to the study of decorative arts today. Curator: A little pot with so much to say—and who knew mustard could be so profound? Editor: Precisely! Sometimes the most concentrated flavors come in the smallest vessels.